Every Ben & Jerry's Flavor—Ranked By Nutrition!

Cherry Garcia? You're one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kinda people. Chunky Monkey? You dare to be different—just like everyone else. Half Baked? You'll always be a rebellious kid at heart. ("Look, ma, I can buy a full pint of that brownie batter and cookie dough stuff you never let me eat, because I'm an adult!") What sets Vermont's finest ice cream company apart from the competition is more than just an affinity for drool-worthy flavors with creatively punny names. Since 1978, the socially- and environmentally-conscious company has remained committed to the quality of its ingredients; their dairy is hormone-free, their eggs are cage-free, every ingredient is non-GMO, and the cocoa, sugar, bananas, coffee, and vanilla they use are all Fairtrade Certified. And even without knowing the good things this company is doing for its customers and the world, we would all still buy a pint (or two) whenever we're looking for a frozen treat. Why? Because Ben & Jerry's makes a darn good ice cream.

Even though most of us are fine with ice cream being solely about taste and do-goodery, it's worth knowing what kind of damage these indulgences are doing to our bodies. (Hey, this is Eat This, Not That!) And we're about to serve up a nutritional reality check: the average serving of Ben & Jerry's is packed with more fat and sugar than most of its competitors. And here's another newsflash: a pint is supposed to serve four—not just you. That being said, you don't have to give these delicious scoops a hard pass if you're trying to maintain your waistline. When eaten in moderation, ice cream serves up a dose of muscle-building protein, healthy fats, and minerals like calcium, potassium, and magnesium.

We've gathered the data and discovered which Ben & Jerry's flavors won't totally derail your diet. No matter what you decide, think of your Ben & Jerry's indulgence as what it is—a nice treat to enjoy before going back to the healthy eating ways you know. Because if Ben and Jerry begin to become your best buds, you might end up turning into a "Chubby Hubby" yourself. Use our rankings as a guide so you can get a cup of something sweet—that isn't so sinful.

How We Ranked It

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We decided to stick to the traditional line of ice cream pints (so, not non-dairy, sorbet, etc.) and we grabbed nutrition information for a half cup serving size of each flavor. First, we sorted by calories. From there, points were deducted based on sugar, carbs, fat, and saturated fat. When dairy was the only source of fat, the flavor fared better than those with added vegetable oils. Research from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston suggests that higher consumption of whole-fat dairy decreased participants' risk of dying from stroke by 42 percent. If there were any close calls, points were awarded to those with higher protein and fiber counts.

A note on trans fats: Some flavors contain trans fat—which is, surprisingly, a good sign in this case. Here's why: It's not the same industrial trans fat which has been banned by the FDA due to its role in cardiovascular disease. This is a naturally-occurring trans fat that's found in higher quantities (along with heart-healthy omega-3s) in quality milk from cows who graze—that's thanks to Ben & Jerry's commitment to sustainable dairy farming through their "Caring Dairy" program. Unlike industrial fats, a review published in The BMJ found that cattle-derived trans fats are not associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease. Additionally, researchers suggest these fats possess beneficial health effects as they act as a precursor to CLA, a fatty acid which has been found to aid in weight loss and even possesses anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. For these reasons, we did not dock a flavor for trans fat content.

First…The Worst

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We often recommend eating healthy fats to boost satiety, help speed essential nutrients through your body, and maximize your metabolism. But because fats are calorie-dense, they should always be eaten in moderation, and too much at one time—like how most of these have over half your day's worth of saturated fat in a single serving—could put your body at risk of weight gain. Plus, these creams are on the high end of the sugar and carb spectrum, and many have over half your day's worth of added sugars (which the FDA recently set to 50 grams).

23

Glampfire Trail Mix

Ben & Jerry's doubled down on the campfire theme with coutless flavors featuring roasted marshmallow. Unforunately, this pint isn't worth pitching a tent (or renting out a glam cabin) for due to its high fat content.

Chunky Monkey

Fans go bananas for this flavor, but you'd have to be nutty to eat more than a serving. (May we remind you, that's just half a cup!) We do appreciate, however, that Ben and Jerry subbed out the vegetable, palm, soy, or canola oils found in other flavors for coconut oil. The saturated fats in coconut oil actually convert "bad" LDL cholesterol into "good" HDL cholesterol, helping to promote heart health.

20

New York Super Fudge Chunk

It would be in your best interest to drop this tub in a New-York minute. This flavor boasts one of the highest fat counts of all the ice creams. Luckily, some of those fats are heart-healthy, polyunsaturated fats thanks to its medley of walnuts, pecans, and almonds—we just think you could do without the 25 grams of sugar.

19

Pecan Resist

Ben and Jerry developed this flavor to spread awareness about "building a more just and equitable tomorrow." While purchasing the pint supports four organizations that are working on the front lines of the peaceful resistance, we just wish it was slightly lower in calories and fat. Because the sugar count is so low and many fats come from healthy nuts, we gave this flavor a break.

Americone Dream

This pint may contain "1776% of your recommended daily allowance of freedom," but it also contains 50% of your daily allowance of saturated fat. And by the looks of the ingredient list, a significant portion of your recommended intake of added sugars. (We say that because both added sugars and natural sugars are listed together as "sugar" on the nutrition label. Milk contains natural sugars, and these are not included in the FDA's recommendation to limit added sugar intake to 50 grams a day.

14

Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch

You may have known this flavor as "Coffee Heath Bar Crunch," but thanks to B&J's commitment to sourcing Fairtrade Certified and non-GMO ingredients, the company had to develop their own toffee to replace the previous candy bar brand. Unfortunately, that feel-good feeling you'll get knowing you're eating ice cream that's good for the world might go away once you see how much fat is in it. Don't worry, coffee lovers. It may seem like your options are dwindling, but we did manage to get a coffee flavor on the best list—keep reading to find out which!

Vanilla Toffee Bar Crunch

More saturated fat and more sugar than the Coffee Toffee set the Vanilla back a notch. But it doesn't sound like you'll be missing much if you skip this flavor, as it only has a 2.2 star rating on the Ben and Jerry's website.

Chubby Hubby

We already used up our joke about becoming a chubby hubby if you eat too much "Chubby Hubby" in the intro, so we'll just talk about the fact this half-cup serving has almost as many calories as a McDonald's BBQ Ranch Burger topped with chili lime tortilla strips—but with more fat, more saturated fat, and way more sugar.

8

Oat of This Swirled

Just because it has oats in the name doesn't mean it should evoke fond memories of healthy overnight oats. This buttery brown sugar ice cream with oatmeal cookies has four times the fat as an Apple Cinnamon microwaveable cup of oatmeal from Bob's Red Mill.

Bob Marley's One Love

We love this banana ice cream, but we don't love how much sugar is in it. So get up, stand up, and walk by this pint in the freezer section if you're concerned about calories and sugar. If you're not, we wouldn't say avoid it forever, as Ben & Jerry's partnered with the Marley family and are donating a portion of the profits from this pint to help to fund a youth empowerment program in Jamaica.

5

Cinnamon Buns

Baby, you'll get a backside if you eat these buns, hun. This flavor was docked for its absurdly high carb and sugar content. Over a quarter of the ingredients used to make this batch are some type of sugar. We can not lie, leave this one on the shelf.

Phish Food

We really, really wish this flavor wasn't as bad as it is. And that's only because a portion of PHISH's royalties from this flavor go toward environmental efforts in Vermont's Lake Champlain Watershed. If you really want to help out, make a donation instead. Or, buy a pint, but eat it a spoonful at a time—an entire serving sets you back over half your day's worth of added sugars.

And the #1 Worst B&J Flavor Is… Peanut Butter Cup

Whether it was Ben or Jerry, someone managed to stuff this Peanut Butter Cup ice cream full of more than half a day's worth of saturated fat and more calories than a McDonald's burger with a small side of fries.

And Now…The Best

When it comes to this Vermont-based ice cream company, less is… well, less. Many of the simplest Ben and Jerry's flavors are unsurprisingly some of their most nutritionally sound. All flavors below are under 300 calories, have fewer than 11 grams of saturated fat, and come in it at under 27 grams of sugar.

15

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ben & Jerry's was the first ice cream shop to introduce the world to Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream back in 1984, so you can blame them for your cravings. It might be one of their all-time most popular concoctions, but it ranks at the low-end of our best flavors because of the high carb count.

14

Half Baked

We saw that little happy dance you just did when you saw Half Baked was on the best of Ben & Jerry's flavors list—even if it barely made it. If you're going to indulge, be sure to stick to the serving size to avoid any deleterious effects this large whack of carbs may have on your blood sugar.

Milk & Cookies

If anyone could make the classic feel-good combo of milk and cookies any better, it's our good friends Ben and Jerry. Just because it's on our best list doesn't mean you can eat the whole pint, though. Soybean oil is still listed as an ingredient, an oil that is notorious for having high levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.

9

Banana Split

We gave this flavor a break when it came to the sugar content because some of that is from the bananas and strawberries that colorfully streak through the vanilla cream. Fruit sugar acts the same way in your body as regular sugar, but fruit is better for you because it comes with slow-digesting fibers to blunt the spikes in blood glucose. Unfortunately, this frozen treat is lacking on the fiber front.

8

Chocolate Fudge Brownie

You can feel good that one of your favorite chocolatey, fudgy ice creams ranks well on our list, and then you can feel even better than the brownies are made by New York's Greyston Bakery, a company that provides jobs and training to low-income city residents. This ranks better than the split because it carries more fiber and protein per serving.

7

Coffee, Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz!

Coffee lovers, over here! Here's one of the best Ben & Jerry's flavors you should eat! It's lower in calories, fats, and carbs compared to the other bean-derived flavors. And this one is more buzz-worthy.

6

Red Velvet Cake

Many of us know red velvet cake is just yellow cake with food dye, but not in this pint. The "dye" is actually a natural, vegetable-derived color as opposed to the coal-derived junk that has been associated with hyperactivity in children.

5

Cherry Garcia

Like we said earlier, Cherry Garcia lovers are the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" kinda people, and that saying certainly holds true for this flavor. One of the earliest developed mixes, this medley of cherries and cream has earned our stamp of approval. (Oh and the taste is pretty good, too.)

4

Pistachio Pistachio

You either love the pistachios, or you hate them. We love them. And we also love that this flavor has the lowest amount of sugar out of all Ben & Jerry's Pints! It might be high in fats, but many of those come from the polyunsaturated fats found in nuts that can actually improve your cholesterol profile and lower your risk of heart disease.

3

Strawberry Cheesecake

It seems fitting that the top three flavors are the three most popular in ice cream cases across the country: strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. Jerry and Ben jazz it up with some cheesecake pieces to make it all the more delectable.

2

Chocolate Therapy

Despite the name, and despite the fact that it's one of the best flavors on the team, food probably shouldn't be used as therapy. Emotional eating is one of the top reasons why people regain weight after losing it. We'd recommend finding alternative ways of coping, like going for a run or knitting.

And The #1 Best B&J Flavor Is… Vanilla

Sorry. But in terms of nutrition, vanilla is the best choice—albeit marginally. It's higher in saturated fats and fats compared to the above flavors, but because it's just vanilla, those are entirely milk-derived (whereas many of the fats from other flavors are added from inflammatory vegetable oils). It's also the second lowest in sugar, and the bottom of the bunch for calories.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published May 27, 2016 and has since been updated to reflect current nutritional values.

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